Mass Effect 2: Team - Building relations, romances Mass Effect 2 guide, walkthrough

Last update: 02 June 2021

Building positive relations with the rest of your team is an important aspect of the game, because it will allow you to make new friends and in some cases also lovers.

Let's begin by explaining how this all works:

1) Having conversations with other members of the crew allows you to know them better and to you can often find out interesting facts from their lives. It's not mandatory, however I would recommend that you spend some time after each mission to visit all decks of the ship and to talk to all current members of the Normandy crew.

2) Each conversation can have a lot of different topics depending on the person and on how far your friendship has progressed. Some of the common topics include sharing comments about the last mission, talking about the past or about family and finding out more about culture of other civilizations.

3) It's important that you're friendly to your crew members, even if you're playing the game as a renegade. Make sure to always choose answers that will make them like you or (worst case scenario) are considered to be neutral. Avoid being hostile towards them or making fun of their culture. If you're on a verge of potentially losing loyalty of one of your crew members you should be presented with a chance to use a special dialogue option of an idealist or a renegade to regain their trust.

You'll unlock new dialogue options with each new conversation.

4) You won't have any problems with choosing new topics in the early stages of each friendship, but sooner or later you'll start "running out" of ideas for new things to talk about or your ally will be reluctant to new conversations. If a crew member doesn't have anything new to say to you leave that person alone and try starting a new conversation after completing at least one new primary mission (or several secondary ones).

5) You'll witness two confrontations later in the game - Miranda will have a problem with Jack and Tali will have a problem with Legion. These confrontation will take place after finishing Jack's and Legion's personal missions so you shouldn't start these missions too soon. It's important to earn as many paragon or renegade points as possible to resolve each problem without losing anyone's trust.

Confrontations can result in a loss of someone's trust, assuming you've chosen a standard dialogue option instead of a special one (paragon or renegade).

Important thing to know about having romances in ME2:

If you're planning on having a romance with one of your followers you should remember that it's always important to complete that character's personal mission.

In almost all cases (renegade ending concerning Jack is the only exception) you'll have an intimate moment with your companion just before using the Omega 4 relay to travel to the Collector base. If you haven't started and sufficiently developed a relationship by the time you're starting the last main quest Shepard will spend this time alone.

If you want to have intercourse with more than one of your crew members (not at the same time, of course ;-)) then you'll have to end your current relationship after successfully returning to the Milky Way (from the Collector base). Only then you'll be allowed to start a new romance.

If you've chosen to import a character from Mass Effect 1 then you might have also "imported" a relationship. In this case you'll have to break the old relationship by talking to your old lover (for example, Liara can be found on the planet Illium and Ashley/Kaidan appear during one of the Collector missions). Otherwise it might not be possible to start a new relationship.

You should talk to Mordin to let him inform you about the important rules of having intercourse with members of other races and with Cerberus operatives (it's not mandatory).

Romance candidates for a male Shepard:

If you're playing as a male character you will have a chance to start a "complete" relationship with Miranda, Jack or Tali.

Miranda: Developing a relationship with Miranda is going to be a long and tiresome process. She won't be very talkative in the early stages of the game, however as the time progresses she'll begin sharing more things from her past, including her origins and family. I guess I don't have to remind you that it'll be very important to complete Miranda's quest which will revolve around rescuing her sister. Your conversations will come to a halt in the final stages of the game, however sooner or later you'll have a chance to convince her to take your relationship to the next level. You'll be given a chance to spend intimate moments with Miranda as soon as you've started the last main quest of the game and have been informed that it will take several hours to make preparations for the trip through Omega 4 relay. Don't forget that you can't afford to lose Miranda's loyalty during her confrontation with Jack - you must either choose a special dialogue option (paragon/renegade) or support Miranda (this will result in losing Jack's trust).

Jack: In this case you'll be allowed to choose between two very different means of approaching Jack and letting her know that you're interested in her. If you want to have sex with her without building a proper and stable relationship you can talk to her soon after she's joined your team. Make sure to choose several dialogue options reserved for a renegade and you won't have to wait long for the results. If you're interested in a normal relationship you'll have to be patient, because the entire process will take similar amounts of time to other potential "candidates" for male Shepard. I think it's fairly obvious that solving Jack's personal quest will help in your case and you'll also have to remember not to lose her loyalty when taking part in a confrontation between Jack and Miranda. The best way would be to choose a special dialogue option (paragon/renegade), but if it's not possible you'll have to support Jack (this means losing Miranda's loyalty). You'll be given a chance to spend intimate moments with Jack as soon as you've started the last main quest of the game and have been informed that it will take several hours to make preparations for the trip through Omega 4 relay.

Tali: Developing a relationship with Tali is also going to be a long and tiresome process. Don't forget that you won't be allowed to start any other relationships, because you wouldn't have a chance to "finish" the one with Tali. Make sure to talk to your quarian friend a lot and to choose proper conversation topics. It's also extremely important to complete Tali's personal quest AND to choose an ending that will result in Tali being cleared of charges or let go (you can't betray her by telling the council the truth). You'll be given a chance to spend intimate moments with Tali as soon as you've started the last main quest of the game and have been informed that it will take several hours to make preparations for the trip through Omega 4 relay. Don't forget that you can't afford to lose Tali's loyalty during her confrontation with Legion - you must either choose a special dialogue option (paragon/renegade) or support Tali (this will result in losing Legion's trust).

Aside from having normal relationships with the characters mentioned above you'll also be allowed to have short flings with other crew members (they're not connected). Here are the characters I'm talking about:

- Kelly - check one of the next pages for more information on her

- Samara - you must behave like an idealist; make sure that you've talked to her a lot and you'll have a chance to ask her if justicars are allowed to be in relationship; sadly she'll back down when the things are about to get interesting

- Morinth - you must behave like a renegade; know that having an intimate moment with her may be deadly to your health :-)

One of the characters male Shepard can have a relationship with is Jack.

Romance candidates for a female Shepard:

If you're playing as a female character you will have a chance to start a "complete" relationship with Jacob, Garrus and Thane.

Jacob: Developing a relationship with Jacob is going to be a long and tiresome process. It's important that during early conversations with Jacob you'll start choosing topics and answers which will make you his friend, not his superior. Don't forget to ask Jacob a lot of questions about his family and past life. You also have to complete his personal quest which will allow him to locate his father (choosing an ending of this quest shouldn't affect your relationship in any major away). You'll be given a chance to spend intimate moments with Jacob as soon as you've started the last main quest of the game and have been informed that it will take several hours to make preparations for the trip through Omega 4 relay.

Garrus: Developing a relationship with Garrus is also going to be a long and tiresome process. You'll probably won't think of him as of a potential candidate for a partner, because he'll act as a professional who doesn't show his feelings in front of others. "Softening" him up will require having long and carefully planned conversations with him - it's important to let Garrus know that a sexual relationship may prove to be helpful in neutralizing all the stress and tension which results in taking part in a suicide mission. You'll also have to let him know that there's nothing wrong with members of different races having intercourse. Don't forget to complete his quest during your visit to the Citadel! You'll be given a chance to spend intimate moments with Garrus as soon as you've started the last main quest of the game and have been informed that it will take several hours to make preparations for the trip through Omega 4 relay (he should appear in captain's quarters with a bottle of alcohol).

Thane: Overall rules of developing a relationship are very similar here to the actions described above, so you'll have to be ready to take part in a long process. An important thing to know about is that you'll have to spend more time talking with Thane than with other potential "candidates". Most of the available topics will include his family and his past life as a killer and it's important to choose your answers carefully so you won't lose his trust. Don't forget to complete Thane's personal quest which will revolve around finding his son - this can be done during one of your trips to the Citadel. You'll be given a chance to spend intimate moments with Thane as soon as you've started the last main quest of the game and have been informed that it will take several hours to make preparations for the trip through Omega 4 relay. It's important to let Thane know that you're worried about him!

- Kelly - check the next page for more information on her

- Jack - your attempts will end only in a conversation concerning Jack's experience in having sexual contacts with other women

- Samara - you must behave like an idealist; make sure that you've talked to her a lot and you'll have a chance to ask her if justicars are allowed to be in relationships; sadly she'll back down when the things are about to get interesting

- Morinth - you must behave like a renegade; know that having an intimate moment with her may be deadly to your health :-)

A female captain can choose Thane to be the object of her desire or one of two other candidates.

Kelly Chambers:

Kelly Chambers is the only person outside your team you'll have a chance to spend some time with. The rules generally stay the same so it will be important to have conversations with her each time you've finished a mission (preferably a primary one). Make sure to let her know that you're interested in her by choosing correct dialogue options and eventually you'll be allowed to ask her to join you for a dinner in captain's quarters. After the dinner you'll also find out that Kelly will feed the fishes for you from now on.

You'll have a chance to continue your relationship with Kelly after your return from the Collector base. It's extremely important to set off on that mission (rescuing captured Normandy crew members) right away (not counting Legion's personal quest), because if you complete some other missions in the meantime it'll be too late for the captured crew members and Kelly will be one of those who didn't make it.

You should receive an e-mail after you've successfully returned to the Milky Way, however this will only occur if you're not in any other relationships. If you're in a relationship you'll have to end it by talking to your partner and then wait for an e-mail to show up on your personal terminal. Go to your quarters after reading the e-mail and use intercom to invite Kelly to join you. Notice that you'll be allowed to choose between three options, including asking Kelly to dance for you.

Kelly Chambers can be found to the right of the main console used for space travel (second deck of the ship).

See/Add Comments